Charge car for sintering apparatus



y 1931. T. M. ALEXOVITS 1,806,438

CHARGE CAR FOR SINTERING APPARATUS Filed April 50, 1929 4 Sheets-Sheet 1[AA/ENTOR! HOMALfi M. ALfXO W715 Arron/v5).

May 19, 1931. T. M. ALEXOVITS' 1,305,438

CHARGE CAR FOR SINTERING APPARATUS Filed April 50. 1929 4 Sheets-Sheet 2THOMAS M- ALEXOVHZS.

BY W QTToRA/E May 19, 1931. T. M. ALEXOVITS CHARGE CAR FOR SINTERINGAPPARATUS Filed April 30, 1929 4 Sheets-Shee t 3 THOMA5 M ALEXOV/Tj 5 WQTTORNEY.

villi!!! y 31- T. M. ALEXOVITS 1,806,438

CHARGE CAR FORSINTERING APPARATUS Filed April 30, 1929 4 Shee ts-Sheet 4VIIIIIIIII hvvmvron:

' THOMAS M. ALfXOV/Z:

RT To e/vcr Patented May 19, 1931 PATENT OFFICE THOMAS M. ALEXOVITS, OFBAYONNE, JERSEY, ASSIGNOR 'ID -TOHN E. GREENL- WALT, 01 NEW YORK, N. Y.

CHARGE CAR FOR SINTEB-ING APPARATUS Application filed April 30,

My invention has relation to improvements in traveling ho pers, orcharge cars, especially adapted for ceding material into the holder orpan of a sintering apparatus for the purpose of sintering the same. Theinvention is particularly directed to the mechanism. for discharging thematerial from the hopper in a regulated stream, whereby the flow ofmatgrial may be maintained uniform and stea y.

In the sintering of ores, flue dust, or kindred materials, it isimportant that the charge be of substantially uniform porosity andmaintained in a fluffy condition, that is, the packing of material inthe holder must be avoided if the best sintering results are to beobtained.

It is therefore one of the objects of the present invention to provide acharge car that will feed the material to the holder in a fluflycondition; one that will feed the material in a stead stream of uniformthickness; one in whic the thickness of this stream may be regulated;one in which the flow of material may be proportioned to the speed ofthe car, so that the car may be charged level without the use of anevener; one that will charge the car with its to surface in a smoothlevel plane; one in w ich the gate controlling the flow of material isautomatically operated to both open and close at predetermined points;one in which the material, after leaving the hopper, is agitated for thepurpose of separating coherent particles, thus insuring a loose orflufi'y condition of the charge and eliminating lumps therefrom; onethat is simple to operate and has a minimum number of controls; and onepossessing other and further advantages which will be better apparentfrom a detailed description of the invention in connection with theaccompanying drawings in which: I

Figure 1 is top plan of my improved charge car with parts broken away;Fig. 2 is an elevation of thecharge car looking at the side on which ismounted the mechanism for controlling the discharge of materialtherefrom; Fig. 3 is a front elevation of the side of the charge car onwhich is mounted the mechanism for controlling the discharge of maeartravels over it. of hopper H and the forward wall 11' of 1929. SerialNo. 359,372.

terial; Fig. .4 is an enlar ed view of the automatic control lever ancam rail which actuates the discharge mechanism; Fig. 5 is asideelevation of the cam rail and lower part of the control lever shown inFig. 4;

ig. 6 isa middle longitudinal section through the car taken on the line6-6 of Fig. 1, the upper part of the hoppers being broken away; Fig. 7is a detached view of a Y portion of the agitator, or roller, thatoperates to divide or flufi' the material as it leaves the hopper; Fig.8 is a sectional detail of the adjustable plate for regulating the sizeof the hopper opening; Fig. 9 is a sectional outline on a reduced scaleof the lower part of the charge car showing the charging mechanism inoperation for the feeding of the material into the sintering pan; Fig.10 is an enlarged sectional detail of the driving mechanism for thebreaker roller; Fig. 11 is an enlarged sectional detail of the gear armsand gear for driving the feed roller; Figs. 12 and 13 are fragmentaryside elevation and end view respectively of a modified form of theinvention in which the cam rollers are coupled together for jointshifting.

Referring to the drawings C represents my improved charge car comprisingan underframe 1 mounted on wheels 2, 2 which are j ournaled on axles 3,3, supported in the boxes 4, 4' fixed to the under side of frame 1. Thecar is adapted to be propelled on the rails 5, 5 by an electric motor 6,the shaft 7 of which is connected to a suitable reducing gear 8 andcarries a pinion 9 on its outer end. The pinion meshes with a gear 10mounted on the end of axle shaft 3. Therefore, when the motor 6 is putinto operation, the charge car will be put into motion.

The charge, car is provided with hoppers H, H, the former being adaptedto hold the more finely crushed material m, and the latter the coarserm, which is discharged into the sintering pan P (Fig. 9) as the chargeThe forward wall 11 hopper H terminate above the lower edge of rearwalls 12, 12 of said hoppers respectively, thus providing mouths 13, 13'at the bottom of the respective hoppers; An ad- 'usting plate 14 ismounted on suitable angle rackets 15, 15 aflixed to the bottom of eachhopper wall 11, 11 for the purpose of regulating the height of thedischarge openings or mouths of, the hoppers. Each plate is secured tothe brackets 15, 15 by bolts 16, 16 which traverse slots 17, 17 in theplate, and studs 18 traverse a flange 19 provided at the upper edge ofthe plate 14, said studs also traversing openings in the bracket 29affixed to the forward wall of the hopper. Obvious- I 1y, by looseningbolts 16, 16 and screwingthe stud 18 either up or down, the plate 14 maybe adjusted so as to either enlargeor decrease the space 8 between thebottom edge of said plate and a feed roller 21 mounted on shaft 22supported in the bearings 23, 23 on the frame 1. By referring to Fig. 6it will be seen that the feed roller 21 closes the bottom of the hopperso that the actual discharge mouth .9 is the predetermined openingbetween the lower edge of plate 14-and roller 21.

One end of the shaft 22 projects beyond the adjacent bearing 23 and hasa pinion 24 mounted on it between a pair of gear arms 25, 25, which are"rotatably mounted at their hubs 26, 26 on shaft 22. The short leverarms 25', 25 of gear levers 25, 25 receive between them an operatinglever 27 and the long lever arms 25", 25" are each provided with anopening 28 toreceive a journal box 29. A short shaft 30 is journaled inboxes 29, 29 and has a gear 31 mounted on it, said gear beingpermanently in mesh with the pinion 24. The lower end 27' of lever 27 isoffset and terminates in a socket 32 for receiving a pin 33 on the outerend of which is rotatably mounted a roller 34, having a projecting hub35 provided with an annular groove 36 which receives a sleeve 37 havingoppositely projecting studs 38, 38' for connection with the lowerbifurcated end 39" of a shift lever 39 pivotally mounted on theactuating arm 27 adjacent to the'ofi'set 27 thereof. The lever arm. 39terminates at its upper end in the laterally projecting handle 40 andpivotally mounted on the lever immediately eyond the handle 40 is alatch 41 having oppositely disposed notches 42', 42, one of which may becaused to engage a'pin 43 projecting from the side of the arm to lockthe lever 39 in its operative position (as shown in Fig. 3). I

The upperend of the actuating arm 27'is pivotally connected at 44 to thefree end of a gate lever 45 fixed to one end of shaft 46, upon which ismounted a'structural steel element 47 having a plate 48 over its outerend which is adapted to come to rest in front of the mouth 8 of thehopper H. The member 748 thus serves as a shut-off gate for the hopper.A counter-weight arm 49 is fixed at each side of ga'te47 and projectsbeyond the shaft 46 asufl icient distance so that the counter-weights50, 50, which are adjustably mounted on the end of the arms 49, 49, mayserve to counter balance the gate.

Brackets 51, 51 are supported from side vertical frame members 52, 52 ofhoppers H, H and levers 53, 53 are pivotally connected to the brackets51, 51 and have a plate 54 secured to their lower ends so as to preventundue spreading of the material that is discharged from the mouth ofhopper H, and may be termed a drag plate. The position of the plate 54is such that it will bear lightly on the surface of the materialdischarging over the drum, or roller, 21 and can bestbe determined byexperiment so as to give just the right amount of pressure to hold backthe material passing over the roll 21-until it reaches an angle where itwill discharge in a steady stream. ere it not for this plate '54, thematerial, when fed in a thickness of three inches more or less, would beliable to slide from a line fairly high on the roll and stick causing itto feed in lumps.

An agitator, or breaker roll, 55 is mounted on a shaft 56 journaled inbearings 57, 57

supported from the frame 1 in a position with respect to the feed roll21 that the stream of material passing over the feed roll will fall onthe breaker roll 55 slightly in back of its center. The breaker roll 55is rotated in the direction of the arrow (Fig. 9) by sprocketconnections with forward wheel 2 as follows:

A clutch disc 58 is secured to the forward wheel 2 and a clutch disc 59is loosely mounted on the reduced extremity 60 of shaft 3,'said disc 59being slidable on the spline 61. A clutch spool 62 is also slidablymounted on the extremity 60 of shaft 3' and is adapted to be shiftedback and forth by a shift lever 63to which is connected an operating'bar 64. On moving the bar inwardly, the spool 62is shifted toward thewhe'el2 which causes the clutch member 59, connected throughthe'linkmechanism 65 to the spool, to

move'toward the disc 58 and grip a sprocket wheel 66 loosely mountedthere between.

, When the sprocket wheel 66 is thus connected,

it'will rotate in unison with the wheel 2 and drive asprocketpinion 67to which it is connected. by a chain 68. The sprocket pinion 67 isprovided with a hub 69 on which sprocket 70 is keyed, said sprocketbeing connected by a chain 71 to sprocket pinion 72- freely rotatable ona'stub shaft 73. Sprocket pinion 7 2 is similar to pinion 67 and has ahub on which is keyed a sprocket '7 5 connected by a chain 76 to apinion 77 keyed onto shaft 56 on which the agitator, or breaker roll, 55is mounted. i

A cam rail 78 is secured by means of bolts 79, 79 etc., to the side ofone of the track rails 5'in spaced relationship therewith, said cam'rail7 8 having its ends inclined as shown I at 80, so that the lever 39 isrocked to its operativeposition to bring the roller 34 in line with thecam rail, said roller will ride upwardly on the incline 80 as the carmoves forward, lifting lever 27 and at the same time causing the geararms 25, 25 to be rocked so as to bring gear 31 in mesh with gear 10'and at the same time raise the gate 47, thereby opening the dischargeslot 8 of hopper H. Obviously, lever 27 will be maintained in its raisedposition during the entire period that the roller'34 is riding on camrail 7 8, and the hopper will be discharging material throughout thisperiod. Therefore, the position and length of cam rail 78 are such thatthe hopper H will discharge material onto the rolls 21 and 55 and intothe sintering pan during the time that the discharge from the roll 55 ispassing over the pan.

The breaker roll 55 is provided with bosses 55' in spaced and staggeredrelation on its entire surface, and as the material discharges from roll21 onto the breaker roll, it will be agitated or stirred by contact withthe bosses as the roll 55 is rotated. Thus any material that may slideoff the feed roll 21 in a lumpy condition will be restored to its finelydivided condition by the action of the breaker roll.v

Obviously, the hopper H is provided with the samemechanism as the hopperH for the feeding of the material therefrom, except that no agitator, orbreaker roll, corresponding to the roll 55 is needed, since the materialbein' fed from hopper H is coarser than that fed from hopper H, and hasless tendency to cohere and form into lumps.

' In Figures 12 and 13, I show a modified form of the invention, whereinthe actuating arms 80 and 81, which carry cam rollers 82,83, havemounted on them a rock shaft 84, on which is fixed a shift lever 85. Theroller 82 is adapted to be shifted laterally by a pair of dependinglevers 86, 86 and connecting pin 87 traversing the roller groove 88, andthe roller 83 is adapted to be shifted laterally by depending arms 89,89 and connecting pin 90, which traverses the groove 91 of roller 83.

It is thus apparent that when the operator desires to shift the rollersto put the mechanism into operation he operates the shift lever 85 torock the shaft '84, whereupon both rollers 82 and 83 are moved into linewith the cam rail 78.

Having described my invention, I claim:

1. In a charge car, a holder for thecharge, said holder having an openbottom, a shut-off gate for said open bottom, a feed roller ad- ]acentto the open bottom, means for coupling the feed roller to the runninggear of the car for actuating the feed roller and means for openin andclosing the shut-off gate at pre determlned points in the cars travel.

2. In a traveling charge car, a holder for the charge, said holderhaving an open bottom, 8. shut-off gate'for said open bottom, a feedroller disposed adjacent to the open botable feed roller disposed tom,an agitator for receiving the flow of material from the feed roller,means for connecting the feed roller to the running gear of the car foractuating the feed roller and for opening the shut-off gate at apredetermined point in the cars travel, and means for actuating theagitator.

3. In a charge car, a holder for the charge, said holder having an openbottom, a feed roller disposed below said open bottom, a fluifing rolladjacent to said feed roller, said fiutling roll having on its surface aplurality of formations for separating coh ering particles of material.

a 4. In a charge car, a holder for the charge, said holder'having an 0en bottom, a rotatbelow said open bottom and adapted to feed thematerial from the hopper bottom in a wide stream, and a rotatableflufiing roll adapted to receive the material from the feed roller, therotation axis of said flufiing roll being slightly in front of theperiphery of the feed roller so that the material stream impinges on thefluffing roller slightly in back of a vertical plane passing through thecenter of the flufling roll.

5. In a charge car, a holder for the charge said holder having an openbottom, a shut-off gate for said open bottom, a rotatable feed rollerdisposed below said open bottom, a fluiiing roll adapted to receive thematerial from the feed roller, actuating mechanism for the feed roller,and means for automatically coupling and uncoupling said actuatingmechanism to the running gear of the car at predetermined points in thecars travel.

6. In a charge car, a holder for the charge, said holder having an openbottom, a shut-off gate for said open bottom, a rotatable feed rollerdisposed below said open bottom, a flufling roll adapted to receive thematerial from the feed roller, actuating mechanism for the feed roller,means for automatically coupling and uncoupling said actuating mechanismto the running gear of the car at predetermined points in the carstravel, and means for actuating the fluflin roll.

7. In a charge car, a holder or the charge, said holder having an openbottom, a shut-off gate for said open bottom, a rotatable feed rollerdisposed below said open bottom, a fiufling roll adapted to receive thematerial from the feed roller, actuating mechanism for the feed roller,means for automatically couplin and uncoupling said actuating mechanismto the running gear of the car at predetermined points in the carstravel, actuating mechanism for the finfiing roll, and means forcoupling said actuating mechamsm to the running gear of the car.

8. In a charge car, a holder for the charge,

said holder having an open bottom, a shut-off gate for said open bottom,actuating mechanism for the feed roller comprisin a rocking frame,driving gears mounte in sa d frame, a lever connected to the rockingframe and the shut-off gate, a cam roller carried by said lever, and -acam rail for receiving the cam roller and rocking the actuatingmechanism and shut-off gate to operative position for the discharge ofmaterial from the hop- In testimony whereof I hereunto aifix mysignature. 7

THOMAS M. ALEXOVITS.

